One by One
by One Foot Forward
Summary: Sometimes she wondered just how ignorant she could be.


Please realize this is really rushed, I am getting kicked off as I type, so I will be editing this at a later time. Until then enjoy! Or enjoy as much as you can with this...blurb

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One by One

One by one she watches them. Their faces shining with relief and joy, while exhaustion wearily danced throughout their figures and at the edges of their minds. The fight was longer than normal, gruelling at times, and gruesome as always. Nothing was out of the ordinary in this case, but at least, Kagome thinks with a smile, they are safe.

One by one she watches as yet another battle takes place, and they are in danger again. She can almost see herself as she throws her life on the line, only to be the damsel in distress once more and be rescued by the annoyed prince. A very loud mouth prince, she thinks with a sad smile, but he has a golden heart. Relief floods her body, even when her supposed prince begins shouting at her for being the idiot she is. She is happy simply because they were safe.

One by one she watches as annoyance starts to take the place of previous affection, and she watches as cold words replace offered assurances. She has always known she was a burden, and it's like a double edged knife in her gut. However she knows she just has to try harder next time, and enjoy the rare moments in which they were all safe.

One by one she watches the pieces fall in place. With heart wrenching realization, it dawns on her that it should have happened sooner. Stumbling onto her look alike, who even in a state of pain and despair could defend herself better then the stupid copy ever could, was actually a good thing. Even when she watches the prince carry the real princess back to the hut, hear the fevered whispers of ideas forming in her companions heads, she thinks that this is a good thing. Now they have the original, the one who could defend them all, keep them safe. And that's what she wants, everyone to be safe.

One by one she watches their backs turning on her, the chill sweeping through her body. She sees the lithe form of her previously surrogate son looking up at _her _with those big, innocent eyes, looking for some sort of guidance. Now the prince has his princess, the warrior had her hope ,along with the monk, and everyone was happy. Everyone was safe, and she knew that was all that really mattered.

One by one she watches the forms of her friends walk away, pleased with the new addition to the group. They no longer have any use for her, no longer find it necessary for her to stay in a time that she does not belong in. They tell her she'll be safer back home, that she'll be better off there. She only agrees on the promise that they will be cautious and safe.

One by one she watches her footsteps fall as she treks back home. No one had bothered to accompany her because they had set off first thing in the morning. Little by little the tears fall from her eyes. Mournful but determined she swears that she will make it through this, if only to become stronger. If only to keep them safe.

One by one she watches the nights fall in reoccurring patterns, and suffers from the shock of the quick change in her life. No longer can she sleep, although hope is strong that she will again, when time continues on. It is in this fashion that Kagome first observes the lowly demons who have come out of hiding to kill the threat to there presence. It is in this fashion that she realizes the important Shikon shards she possesses are still with her, that the group was too focused on _her_ that they forgot to take them. And it is in this fashion that she makes a decision to keep everyone safe.

One by one the demons descend on her in a final blow. She's decided that if she can't defeat them, she'll take them all down with her. As claws tear into her skin and she gets ready for her self destruction, for what better way to take down hoards of demons than with a nice explosion , something finally clicks in her mind.

She was wrong. She had never been safe.


End file.
